It's hard to underestimate the influence of Sesame Street on young children growing up, waking up before the sun does and sitting in front of a world of knowledge, fuelled by talented writers and told via puppetry.

And with that power, comes a responsibility to tackle relevant subjects for children, without shying away from something that can benefit them in later life. This is why Sesame Street - amidst a challenging period, with the Kevin Clash sex rumors still going strong - have approached the issue of divorce. It seems this time, though, that the children have influenced the show, rather than the other way round, as the writers and producers realized that most kids know about it already. The tough matter was approached via the character of Abby - a fun-loving pink fairy with sparkly hair - who holds up two drawings of houses; one where she lives with her mommy and the other where she lives with daddy. She later explains to Elmo that this is because of a divorce, and that she felt sad to begin with, but got used to it after a while.

Sesame Street writer Christine Ferraro told Time: "Writing about divorce is not easy. My approach was from the point of view of Abby whose parents have gone through a divorce in the past, so that it is not a new, raw emotion."